Department for Transport

Aviation: Scotland

lord forsyth of drumlean: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Vere of Norbiton on 3 June (HL15919), whether they will now answer the question put.

lord forsyth of drumlean: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Vere of Norbiton on 3 June (HL15919), what evidence they have for the competitiveness of airfares between London and Scotland; whether they will provide the figures for the cost of such flights which informed their assessment that “Scotland is well-served by air services into London”; whether they have conducted a comparative analysis of the costs of flights from Scotland to all London airports; and if not, why not.

baroness vere of norbiton: I refer to the answer of 3 June (HL15919), which states that the aviation sector operates in a competitive, commercial environment, investing to attract passengers and responding to demand when determining routes to operate. It is therefore not for the Department to carry out this type of assessment, nor to comment on whether there is sufficient competition. I can, however, confirm that CAA data for 2018 shows that the four largest airports in Scotland (Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Inverness and Glasgow) have flights to two or more airports in the London system, with flights operated by multiple airlines. In addition, the UK Government, in partnership with the Scottish Government and Dundee City Council, provide financial support for an air route from Dundee to Stanstead, through a public service obligation. Scotland will also benefit from an expanded Heathrow, where there will be further opportunity to enhance connections to the country’s biggest hub airport. This information, which is already in the public domain, shows that there is sufficient competition for air routes between London and Scotland.

Department for Education

Free School Meals

lord bassam of brighton: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of changes to the criteria for free school meals eligibility in 2018; and how many students now receive free school meals compared to the number who received them before these changes took place.

lord agnew of oulton: I refer the noble Lord to the answers I gave on 6 February 2019 to Question HL13093 and Question HL13094. I will also refer the noble Lord to the answer I gave on 20 February 2019 to Question HL13492. Under the new eligibility criteria that we introduced in April 2018, we estimate that more pupils will benefit from free school meals (FSM) by 2022, compared with the previous criteria. In addition, generous transitional protections were put in place to ensure no child will lose their eligibility for FSM during the change to the new criteria. Under the benefits-based criteria, to be eligible to receive FSM, a pupil or their parent must be in receipt of any one of the qualifying benefits and must make a claim to the school for FSM. The qualifying criteria includes benefits for both out of work and low-earning families. The full eligibility criteria is attached and also available here: https://www.gov.uk/apply-free-school-meals. 



HL15974_FSM_eligibility
(PDF Document, 90.4 KB)

Ministry of Defence

Nuclear Weapons

the marquess of lothian: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of reports that Renata Dwan, Director of the UN Institute for Disarmament Research, warned on 21 May that the risk of nuclear weapons being used is at its highest since World War Two, and that the world should take this threat more seriously.

earl howe: Today's security climate is challenging, with the threats faced by the United Kingdom increasing in scale, diversity and complexity. However, Her Majesty's Government does not believe that the risk of nuclear war is greater today than it was during the Cold War.While the operation of an independent, minimum, credible nuclear deterrent continues to be necessary to protect the United Kingdom from the most extreme threats to our national security and way of life, the UK has taken a number of unilateral actions that build confidence and reduce international tensions. Our negative security assurances, as set out in the 2015 Strategic Defence and Security Review, are designed to give Non-Nuclear Weapons States in compliance with the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty confidence that nuclear weapons will not be used against them. Further, since 1994, UK Trident missiles have not been targeted at any State; our Vanguard class submarines are at several days' notice to fire; only the Prime Minister has the authority to launch nuclear weapons maintaining political control at all times; and the UK has been transparent about its nuclear capability, including missile and warhead numbers.The Government is committed to the long-term goal of a world without nuclear weapons and continues to work internationally, within the framework of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, towards achieving the conditions in which all nuclear weapons possessor states are willing to relinquish their nuclear weapons.

Joint Strike Fighter Aircraft

lord moonie: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their latest estimate of the cost per flight hour of the F35-B aircraft; and what is their expected in service flight hours.

earl howe: The Ministry of Defence does not yet have its own figure for the hourly flying cost for an F-35B Lightning as the aircraft has not been in service long enough to generate the required data. However, information would in any case be withheld as its disclosure would or would be likely to prejudice commercial interests.The expected service life of an F-35B Lightning is 8,000 or more flying hours.

Cabinet Office

Government Departments: Procurement

lord evans of watford: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment the Cabinet Office has made of the potential benefits of the application of ISO 44001 to their procurement policy, and the procurement policy of all Departments.

lord young of cookham: The Government has a long-established approach to identifying, developing and managing collaborative business relationships. For example, the Government recognises the importance of managing its relationships with strategic suppliers, on a cross-government basis, by observing their performance in the delivery of public services and monitoring financial health.This year, the Government introduced a new approach to the monitoring and management of strategic suppliers through a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the government and each of our strategic suppliers. The approach of using an MOU reflects the Government’s now well-developed relationships with, and understanding of, its strategic suppliers. Under this new approach, strategic suppliers will agree to provide the government with the information it needs to monitor and manage risks across its strategic supplier base, with the full cooperation of industry.